Smoke detectors have been extensively used to provide warnings of potential or actual fire conditions in a region being monitored. Photoelectric-type smoke detectors sample the contents of a smoke chamber intermittently.
Known photoelectric detectors sample the smoke chamber at a first rate in a quiescent state. In the event that a smoke sample exceeds a preset threshold, the sample rate is increased. If the level of smoke exceeds a threshold for several additional samples, an alarm condition will be indicated.
While known detectors do provide a variable sample rate, it is only in response to the presence of a predetermined smoke density. It would be desirable to be able to vary the rate even for low levels of smoke density without requiring the excessive power that can be required to operate continuously at a relatively high sample rate. Preferably such added functionality could be achieved without any significant increase in either cost or manufacturing complexity.